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Enough to go to Vanguard from another MMO? I think not
Elikal
Member UncommonPosts: 7,912
Well, I am in beta for 3 days, each day 12 - 14 hours made two character to level 10 and looked at many starter areas. I know there are many things that come later. I know it is beta, but since release date is soon here, I think with some MMO experience you can imagine how it will be.
I am currently playing and enjoying EQ2 after a longer break. However, since I play EQ2 since day one, I wanted to explore new shores, see new places and stuff. I can really only play one big MMO, so I still wonder if I am going to leave EQ2 for Vanguard. The more I play the more likely I must say, no.
There can be many things in detail said about Vanguard. It is big, it has beauty and many small and medium things which are cool and fun. Altogether it would likely be a 70% candidate.
BUT: there are many things who I personallly find important, in which Vangaurd falls flat.
Graphics: Sure, it looks technically great. A seamless, huge world made with rich detail. But, for some reason, it feels cold. Unlike WoW or EQ2 landscapes I don't feel really the magic, the spirit of the regions. Sure, the High Elf city is big and wonderful, but it does not catch me as Qeynos, the Feerrott, Greater Faydark or many of those WoW zones did. In those MMOs I loved many of the zones. The Vanguard zones are nice and detailled, but lack some "heart", in an emotional way I can't really explain. It sure gives me a deja vu to Lineage II, DAoC and Dark and Light landscapes. Good, but nothing you will really bear in your heart. The animations are ok, but boring and very simple. No attack looks really stunning and IMO quite far behind the EQ2 and WOW animations. Same goes for armor and clothing. It looks way behind the exciting WOW and the great and realisitc EQ2 armor sets. Most things I have seen in armor is bland and looks like a placeholder.
Quests: A big disappointment compared to EQ2. In EQ2 there are so many types of quests, collection, heritage, language quests, whatever. In Vanguard there are no such special quests. Just trying to speak gnoll, collect some bones or such in EQ2 gives so much fun to do, and in Vanguard, they are quite generic.
UI: My biggest gripe is the User Interface. The map is a joke. I know the hardcore players want it that way. I dont. I hav great difficulties to find places and get an idea of the world with that rudimentary map. It is merely a pic of the world map, zoomed with your position. No landmarks, no color, no icons no radar, nothing. The information from the "inspect" of players is practically nonexistend. I see the items thats it. No stats, no biography. I really valued such details in SWG and EQ2. All parts of the UI are extreme simple and down to mere functionality. Many things cant be sorted or filtered, as in EQ2. The journal is small (20 quests max) and also does not allow to sort or anything luxurious. Bare functionality.
Finally, the world is somehow lacking social places especially WOW is so famous for. You can always meet and greet people in certain places, like the Goldshire inn, or in Qeynos Harbour, because those are social focus places. The vastness and design of Vanguard spreads all players over the world, and without a real ingame map it may prove VERY difficult to call your friends or pals to meet anywhere. I bet it will be quite a nightmare to find groups in this game with the lacking map features and the very pragmatic UI.
I never needed the bonbon colors of WOW, but Vanguard is just an inch too dry and cool for me. I may try it out later if I am really fed up with EQ2 in some months, but now, if you enjoy your MMO - stay where you are. The grass is not greener in Vanguard. Somehow, the welcoming, the magic that WOW and EQ2 have, I didnt yet find it in Vanguard. Sure, its only 3 days. But WOW and EQ2 hooked me in minutes! I dunno, I keep my eyes on it, and I am aware more is feel than logical analysis, but something does not feel so "magic" in Vanguard yet.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
Comments
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O'rly.
Come on, I know that. But I dont expect miracles in 2 weeks. There is just too many not there. I dont see it come anytime near. I played EQ2 from day one, at even then it had so much more. I keep my eyes on it, but chance is if you love EQ2 (especially since EoF is a really great addon) you may find Vanguard cold and a step back in many details.People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
Now i've only been in VsoH beta for 6 days but so far im realy enjoying it, the diplomacy quest are realy nice, love the story line and the environment are amazing, ca'ial Brael is simply gorgeous . my only gripe with it would be the performance but with every patchs (as in each day) it seems to perform better
Anyway at this rate if they keep up the game should be quite good when it launchs.
As for the map i dont realy mind it, its quite fonctional but i agree they should have town maps.
Yeah, this game isn't a <insert currently played MMO here>-killer...yet. There are several things that make me wary.
First is the quote from Aradune stateing"we are hopeing for 10% more optimization by release". Too me, that means very little. And where will we notice the optimization? That wasn't clear either. Could just be to the chat server, although that does seem pretty good atm. Or the mob AI which so far is pretty standard fare.
Another is the quote above stateing something like "I remember when EQ2 came out and it was bug riddled and I left 2 months after launch". If that attitude carries over to VSoH, it's gonna be another DDO, where it's just able to sustain itself and some for the shareholders. And I don't know how long SOE will put up with that. You could say "look at SWG, it's still running. But at this point I seriously wonder if it's like that because they are not willing to let the SWG liscence go to someone else.
I remember being so psyched about DDO, then I actually played it for a couple weeks and got tired, fast. I think they should start off right away with buddy keys. Couldn't hurt.
There was a third concern but I forgot. I'll just blame it on the cold weather. Yeah that's the ticket.
I sincerly hope it is a success and with it being added to the Station All Access pass(if I read it right). It has some interesting concepts and while the terrain and buildings remind me slightly of AC(which I ended up almost despiseing because of the graphics), it does have a realistic feel to it, aside from the not being able to run up a mountain path correctly or swimming and it looks like you are skipping on the water or etc... It may be a hit as far as retail box sales go because of the station pass thing. But you can expect a raise in the all access pass soon, if not exactly when VSoH releases.
The problem is, as each year passes with each new release, people are so desperate for something new that they will accept it in ANY state. Fact is, if this was any other industry..or any other platform even!, people wouldn't accept unfinished products, they wouldn't willingly pay to 'help' a corporation test and fix a product they should do in-house and they certainly wouldn't say "Give them time!", it would be more like "I'll take my custom elsewhere, you're not the only game on the market.."
Thats the problem here. If people would willingly pay £500 for a cheeseburger, then THATS what they'd sell for. As a result, any company will offer you the bare minimum of quality the customer will accept before they go elsewhere.
It's growing on me now, as i can see more of the game since they improved performance. It's crafting that may be the catch for me however. Not necessarily due to the crafting system itself, which is really good, but because it offers something viable to do other than killing mobs all the time. For me, this is absolutely necessary and the reason to why i enjoyed SWG so much, the versatility and options available. I'm hoping housing will be in a similar vein and also really hoping that i can trade from a house.
The idea of travelling to a distant area to a shop that you know sells good quality gear is not only fulfilling, but also offers a sense of adventure, as it feels like you've 'discovered' the shop. Let's hope they get that right.
However, like most, mob whacking alone won't cut it, unless it was revolutionary (which it's certainly not), so for me, it must be a small part in a much bigger picture.